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KevinDoesSports Ballot for 2026 Week 7

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 11, 2026, 9:38 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Head-to-head matchups, strength of schedule, point margins

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs I've wanted to put them as the #1 for a while but couldn't justify it until this week. Georgia went into a rainy Tuscaloosa and beat Alabama on the road for the first time in while.
2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Next week against BYU will be a big test for this team. They haven't really had to worry in any of their games so far, I think they are the #2, for now.
3 Ohio State Buckeyes I keep them above Miami because they have actually played a Top 10 school, and while hey did lose, it was still very close.
4 Miami Hurricanes Mensah might be my Heisman favorite. Miami looks really good, a couple of more wins and I could see them being higher than Notre Dame and Ohio State.
5 Alabama Crimson Tide A really close game with Georgia. They actually move up because of Texas dropping. I still think Alabama can win it all, and we will probably see these teams play again in the SEC Championship.
6 Texas Longhorns A big loss to Oklahoma. Their win against Ohio State is enough to keep them Top 10, but Arch Manning did not look good in the Cotton Bowl. Texas is also about to play five AP ranked opponents in their next five games, they need to figure out their problems before the season comes apart.
7 Indiana Hoosiers Another close Big 10 game. Nebraska is a good school but Indiana hasn't played as late as you would want them to. The Big 10 is good, but Indiana does not look as good as they did last year.
8 BYU Cougars I don't really have a reason to move this team. They have struggled a bit against Big 12 opponents in TCU and Iowa State, but they have a big game against Notre Dame next week.
9 Texas Tech Red Raiders Still undefeated, they beat an underrated Houston squad.
10 Ole Miss Rebels It appears Ole Miss fixed some problems over the bye week. The crushed Vandy, which is an SEC team so that is still worth something. They move back into the Top 10.
11 Utah Utes Utah still hasn't played a close game. Undefeated so far, they could be the best team of the Big 12.
12 Missouri Tigers Missouri proved they have an elite offense by shutting down Florida, and then only allowing six points to Texas A&M. They have really rebounded since the Miss State loss.
13 UCLA Bruins Undefeated. The had their first close game of the year against Oregon and they won. Oregon had problems of their own but still a big win for UCLA.
14 Tennessee Volunteers I felt really good about Tennessee when they almost beat Texas, I haven't ever since. Injuries have hurt, but they have not looked nearly as good against Auburn and Arkansas. Their almost win against Texas isn't as good anymore either.
15 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa fell hard in a lot of people's rankings, but this team is good. Iowa has a great defense and while the loss to Ohio State wasn't great, they went into Washington and beat a decent Husky team by a lot. Iowa is top 15 to me.
16 LSU Tigers A big loss to Kentucky. I don't think any Top 15 team can have two losses, so I put LSU here. LSU still looks pretty good and maybe Kentucky was just a little slept on.
17 Oregon Ducks A big win against USC, a big loss against UCLA. I think the Dante Moore injury is really starting to show its damage to this team. Two losses already isn't great, Oregon needs to win against Nebraska. They still do have win against USC and Boise State, which is definitely saying something, as they probably have had one of the hardest schedules up to this point.
18 USC Trojans Proved they could play on the East Coast in a hostile White Out. If Eskildsen doesn't fumble that ball maybe Penn State at least ties it but they still won, they stay here for now.
19 Mississippi State Bulldogs Didn't play. Big win against Missouri, big loss against Alabama, lets keep them at 19.
20 Oklahoma State Cowboys This team has really rebounded since the opening loss to Tulsa. A big win against a Big 12 opponent continues to prove they are a Top 20 team.
21 Houston Cougars A lot of people don't like Houston, I don't know why. Their only loss is to Texas Tech, who might be a Top 10 school. Every other team they have handled.
22 Boise State Broncos A little too close to comfort against Fresno State. Still the class of the Pac-12.
23 Northwestern Wildcats (As a Penn State fan) I love this team right now. Almost beat Indiana, destroyed Penn State, Northwestern looks legit.
24 Kentucky Wildcats Back to back 35-34 wins. First time since overtime was invented since 1996 that a team has won back to back games by a point. Kentucky kept it close for a half with a really good Alabama team. While they did almost lose to South Carolina, I think that South Carolina is better than people think. A big win against LSU, Kentucky should be ranked.
25 Nebraska Cornhuskers I have been sleeping on Nebraska for some time now, but let's show some more Big 10 schools some love. Nebraska made Indiana sweat, that means a lot. That was their first loss of the year. Nebraska should be ranked.

DROPPED: Duke, Florida
OTHER TEAMS CONSIDERED: Wisconsin, Wake Forest, JMU

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